Students learn robotics at Sun Hydraulics, PGT

About 125 local high school students on Friday peered into the robotic machinery at Sun Hydraulics Corp. or learned about making hurricane-resistant windows at PGT Inc.

Their tours were part of a statewide effort called "Made in Florida," in which more than 2,000 Florida high school students toured 80 manufacturing plants across the state. The tours were part of National Manufacturing Day, in which about 800 manufacturers opened their doors to students.

For many of the students, the day was undoubtedly just a chance to get out of the classroom, to do something different and to get pizza for lunch.

But these days many high school students, like those at Bayshore High School, can study engineering, digital video production and the foundations of robotics.

These kids are serious.

"We design and build robots," said Isaah Rorie, a Bayshore sophomore who not only takes engineering and robotics classes but also participates in an after-school program in which students design and create robots to compete with those of other schools.

Another Bayshore student, Johannah Tuttle, gazed into the glass window on one of Sun's sophisticated three-dimensional robotic milling machines as it drilled holes in an 8-inch cube of aluminum that was about to become part of an expensive valve-and-manifold hydraulic system.

This machine, one of dozens like it in the Sun plant, would drill a hole, flush out the shavings, then put threads in it, before rotating the aluminum target to a different angle to drill another hole.

Seeing robotics at work inspired Tuttle to asks one of the teachers about the after-school robotics program.

"They are building robots. They are competing," Tuttle said, when she learned she could still sign up and get involved, even though school has already started. "I was just looking for something that is complicated and something that is going to work your mind. That is my favorite thing."

Just the kind of thing that Sun executive Tim Twitty wanted to hear: "That's the key, is to get them thinking about those high-tech opportunities that are around them in both counties."

Exposed to manufacturing

In Venice, about three dozen students from Booker High School toured the plant where PGT makes its famous hurricane-resistant glass doors and windows, trademarked Winguard.

A couple of guys got the chance to try to break the glass with a baseball bat. If they could, the $100 bill taped to the other side would be theirs.

Nobody has ever broken the glass that way, said Maggie Priest, a PGT employee who was happy to serve as tour guide.

"It is good for the kids," Priest said. "At that age, they are not exposed to manufacturing."

In the Sarasota-Bradenton area metro area, the tours have been set up every year since 2006 by the Sarasota Manatee Manufacturers Association.

"We realize that having a viable workforce is critical if we want manufacturing to survive and thrive in our area," said Peter Straw, SAMA's executive director.

This year, the group teamed up with a group based in Brandon that has National Science Foundation Center backing, called Florida Advanced Technological Education, or FLATE. The school boards from Sarasota and Manatee counties paid for transportation on school buses. The businesses paid for lunch.

"We had them all over the state," said Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE, which is run from the Hillsborough Community College campus in Brandon.

Her group's mission is raise awareness of manufacturing as a viable way to make a living, and to promote manufacturing-oriented curriculums at the state's community colleges.

"You can come out of there making $40,000," Barger said. "That is pretty good for a two-year degree, and you have a lot of potential to grow."

"There are all kinds of manufacturers working with all kinds of materials — food, pharmaceutical, metal, plastic, wood, electronics."